The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to scientists Katalin Kariko of Hungary and Drew Weissman of the United States for discoveries that enabled the development of mRNA Covid-19 vaccines, according to the award-giving organization.
“The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19,” the body said on Monday
The prize, which is among the most prominent in the scientific world, is chosen by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute Medical University and includes 11 million Swedish crowns (about $1 million).
Kariko served as BioNTech’s senior vice president and head of RNA protein replacement until 2022 and has subsequently served as an adviser to the firm. She also teaches at the University of Szeged in Hungary and the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.
Weissman is a vaccine researcher at the Perelman School of Medicine.
Kariko discovered a mechanism to prevent the immune system from unleashing an inflammatory response against lab-made mRNA, which was previously thought to be a key barrier to any therapeutic use of mRNA.
She and Weissman demonstrated in 2005 that changes to nucleosides, the molecular letters that write the genetic code of mRNA, can keep the mRNA hidden from the immune system.
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